NO is not an answer.
There are dozens of excuses not to innovate, and we’ve heard ‘em all.
Most are ‘knee-jerk’ emotional reactions to change, which might explain why a logical response often doesn’t work: you can’t use reason to change a belief that wasn’t based on reason in the first place.
That’s why sometimes the best response to an idea killer is a killer comeback.
“IT’S ALREADY BEEN DONE”. Not really. Not properly. Not like this.
“IT’S NEVER BEEN DONE”. Um, ok, let’s look for innovations that have already been done…?
“WE TRIED THAT IN 1974″ Exactly like this? Really? Y’know, a lot has changed since then.
“HEAD OFFICE/MY BOSS/THE MARKET WON’T LIKE IT”
Maybe… but so far they haven’t even heard it.
“WE DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES”
We do, we’re just blowing them on things that don’t work… which is why we need to innovate.
“WE HAVEN’T GOT TIME” Let’s use the time we waste doing it the old way that doesn’t work.
“IT’S NOT A PRIORITY” Agreed. The priorities are wrong. Let’s fix those too.
“IT’S NOT IN OUR STRATEGIC PLAN” True, but only because we didn’t think of it sooner.
“IT DOESN’T FIT WITH OUR TRADITION”
So it’s not like the things we do for reasons that no-one actually remembers.
“WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT” Exciting, isn’t it? So much to learn!
…and my all-time favourite:
“IT’S NOT WHAT WE PAY YOU TO DO”. That’s ok, this one’s a freebee.
Remember the first rule of sales: NO is not an answer… it’s a request for more information.
